


6 Simple Steps

by unknowableroom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-04
Updated: 2009-11-04
Packaged: 2019-01-19 21:44:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12418779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknowableroom_archivist/pseuds/unknowableroom_archivist
Summary: "she started to like this James. This James was interesting. This James demanded more than a mutually superficial relationship. This James drew her attention." Lily falls for James - One shot.





	6 Simple Steps

**Author's Note:**

> Note from ChristyCorr, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Unknowable Room](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Unknowable_Room), a Harry Potter archive active from 2005-2016. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after May 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Unknowable Room collection profile](http://www.archiveofourown.org/collections/unknowableroom).

**beginning**

**  
**Despite popular opinion, she had never hated James. One explosion after a stressful exam when he was picking on her (then) best friend and suddenly the entire school is convinced they have a vendetta against each other. It was true, she had never hated James, but she had never particularly liked him either. All those things she had accused him of that afternoon still applied. He was arrogant. He was a show off. He did pick on other students and hex them for fun. But as she stormed off, leaving a disgruntled James and a despairing Sev behind, the thing she was most angry about was that he had tried to use a date with her as a bargaining tool. She was hurt that he would humiliate her in such a way, implying that a date with her wasn’t something to be prized or valued.

Lily Evans had never been good at holding a grudge – she was far too good natured for that – and for the next year she simply avoided talking to James unless necessary. He avoided her too (never once saying sorry, she noticed, and was slightly annoyed) and 6th year passed without any drama. James was still James; hexing, teasing, Quidditch extraordinaire, flirting James and Lily was happy to have a mutually superficial relationship with him. 

Then he was made Head Boy. Then the war started to escalate. Then James was no longer hexing, teasing James, but was someone completely different. And she started to like this James. This James was interesting. This James demanded more than a mutually superficial relationship. This James drew her attention and her curiosity. 

Later on, she would look back over 7th year and laughingly refer to this gradual change as James’ 6 Step Plan to Winning Lily Evans’ Heart. 

**i.**

Lily hurried down the corridor, already desperately late for her Career Advice meeting with McGonagall. The fact that she had been held up in her last class would be of no significance to the Professor – late was late. Thankfully the corridors were empty, as most students had already made it to their next class and she didn’t have to contend with a crowd. Only a few dawdlers were about and Lily smiled at them as she raced past.

She was almost at McGonagall’s office when she heard the sobbing. Lily slowed, nibbling on her lip. Did she really hear that? Should she stop? She was already so late for her meeting…”Oh bother,” Lily sighed, turning on her heel and making her way back to the crying. She was Head Girl. She couldn’t pretend that she didn’t hear someone crying. 

She slowed as she got closer, not wanting to startle whoever it was. Hopefully it was just a teeny 1st year that had gotten lost on the way to class and not something more serious, she really couldn’t be much later than she already was. Feeling slightly guilty that she could be so self absorbed, Lily rounded the corner and froze.  
   
Huddled in an alcove was, as suspected, a teeny 1st year, clutching her books to her chest and sniffling. What was completely unexpected was the lanky boy sitting next to her, looking utterly bewildered and uncomfortable. He was patting the girls shoulder awkwardly and trying to look reassuring. 

“There there,” James Potter muttered, “it’s not so bad. Why don’t you tell me what’s wrong?”

The girl shook her head, tightening her hold on her books. “You,” she hiccoughed, “You’re not really interested. You’re Head Boy, you HAVE to ask me.” 

The slightly guilty expression on James’ face told Lily that this girl was spot on. She was waiting for him to agree and leave the poor girl to her own devices when James surprised her by laughing. 

“Well, that is partly true,” he confided, nudging her, “but only because if Professor McGonagall found out that I had left a crying girl alone in the corridor, she’d have me for breakfast!”

The girl giggled and wiped at her wet cheeks. She shot James a nervous glance and whispered, “I’m lost.” James nodded. “And when I asked Marie Jenkins to help me find my classroom, she laughed at me!” James’ mouth twitched. “And then she told me that if I was too silly to find my classroom, she certainly wasn’t going to help me.” The girl sniffed. “She’s only angry because I beat her at Charms last week and she can’t stand that a Muggle-born beat her. And now I’m going to be late to Potions and Professor Slughorn will kill me” She finished her tale with another sob and buried her face into James’ shoulder. 

Lily stifled a laugh at the look of horror on James’ face as he started patting the girls shoulder again. “Well it’s not all that bad,” James reassured her, “I’ll walk you to Potions and tell Professor Slughorn what happened. You won’t get into trouble then. And next time Marie Jenkins gives you a hard time, you come find me and we’ll set her straight.” 

Lily rolled her eyes. Oh typical. Now he was encouraging the First Years to prank each other. She knew what “set her straight” meant. 

The girl immediately raised her head and gave James a dazzling smile. “Oh would you?” she exclaimed, “That would be so lovely! You’ll really help me whenever I’m in trouble? I can just come ask you and you’ll look after me?” She gazed up at James lovingly and he looked down at her, terrified. “I always knew you would be a perfect gentleman.” She stood to her feet and waited for James to follow suit, tapping her foot. “You know what?”

James eyed her warily as he stood, brushing his robes. “No, what?”

“You remind me of Lorenzo.” She nodded and trailed after James as he began to lead her towards the dungeons. “He’s a character in my favourite book, Wands Of Destiny, and he’s also tall and dashing and always helps girls when they’re in trouble…” 

The girls chattering faded away and Lily finally gave in and burst into laughter. The image of James looking horrified as the girl started crying on his shoulder was priceless and had her giggling all day. She wasn’t at all surprised when she came down for dinner that night and found James surrounded by a group of chattering Gryffindor 1st years, lead by the little brown haired girl from the corridor. She was busy telling everyone how James had rescued her and then made Professor Slughorn be nice to her. The other girls ooh’d and gazed up at James with awe. He was bright red and kept on running his hands through his hair. 

“Got yourself a fan club, Potter?” Lily asked as she breezed past, raising an eyebrow. James glared at her and she laughed. “Bit young, don’t you think?” 

James smiled at her, hesitant. When she answered his smile with one of her own, his grin widened, eyes crinkling at the corners. “I can’t help it if I’m fantastic Evans,” he said with a wink. The girls around him giggled. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m having a conversation with these lovely ladies.” 

Lily rolled her eyes and made her way down to Alice and Mary, wondering why his antics hadn’t annoyed her as much as usual. 

  
**ii.**

“You’re limping.” Lily’s voice was flat with disapproval. 

James stiffened and turned to look at her. Lily was startled to see how pale he was, how tired his eyes were. “Yes, top observation there Evans,” he snapped, “I’m limping. Is there anything else equally as obvious you’d like to add to the conversation?”

Lily folded her arms and glared at him. “How about you tell me why you’re sneaking into the Common Room at half past five in the morning with a limp?”  
James glared right back at her. “Why don’t you tell me why the hell you’re down in the Common Room at five thirty and not up in the dorms minding your own bloody business?”

Lily threw her hands up in the air. “Why am I not surprised?” she exclaimed, thoroughly fed up. “You clearly have no regard at all for the title of Head Boy. I thought you might actually have grown up and accepted some responsibility for once in your life, but you’ve proven me wrong. You and your stupid mates were out breaking school rules, gallivanting about and wasting time. Oh yes,” Lily spat, noticing James’ shocked expression, “I saw Black and Pettigrew slink their way in half an hour ago. The only one missing is Remus and that’s because he’s got too much common sense to be roaming the halls and getting hurt!” 

“Remus is not here, Evans,” James hissed, taking a step towards her, “because he’s in the Hospital Wing, not because he’s some stuck up little prude like you, who would never do anything to help her friends – “

“Help my friends?” Lily retorted, “what has breaking curfew and getting yourself _hurt_ got to do with helping Remus? That’s not going to help with the illness he has, it’s just going to worry him! You’re so thoughtless, using Remus’ sickness as an excuse to go and be a hooligan –“ 

“Oh, shut the fuck up Evans!” James snapped, giving her a look of utter disgust. “You have no idea! You have no fucking idea. You ambush me, in all your self righteous anger and have no clue about what you’re saying. You don’t know! You don’t know what we do for Remus, you don’t know what he goes through every month! You don’t know what it’s like to watch him transform and be in so much pain and not be able to do anything about! The only thing we can do is be with him and – “he stopped and watched Lily warily. Her eyes had widened, blood draining from her face.  

“You’re with him?” she whispered, staring at him. “You’re with him when he changes?” 

James gaped at her. “You know? That he’s a – “

“Oh of course I know!” she interrupted, irritated. “I figured it out 3rd year; it’s not terribly difficult to put 2 and 2 together. That’s not the issue we’re dealing with right now. You – how can you three be so irresponsible? It’s so dangerous, you could be hurt…” her voice trailed off and she cocked her head to one side, examining him. She sighed, resigned and annoyed. “Sit down Potter.”

“What?” James narrowed his eyes at her. “Why?” 

“Don’t argue with me!” irritation flared back up. “Just sit down so I can heal your leg.” 

James sat on the couch, hands held out in front of him, trying to ward her off. “Oh, Lily, no, you don’t have to, I can get Peter to heal it.”

Lily snorted as she knelt in front of him, summoning a footstool towards her. “Yeah, I don’t think so. I’ll just do it. At least then I know it’s done right.”  She gently lifted his leg up onto the stool and rolled his right pants leg up. 

“Trying to undress me Evans? Why am I not surprised?” He joked, inhaling sharply when the fabric caught on the wide gash. 

Lily ignored him and rocked back on her heels, eyeing the gash and nibbling on her lip. “It won’t –“she hesitated and started again. “You’re not infected?” Lily wouldn’t meet his eyes. 

“No,” James answered hurriedly, “no, there’s no chance of that.” He gave her a reassuring smile when she looked at him skeptically. “Really. Wizards honour.” 

“Right.” She still didn’t believe him, but she started waving her wand over the wound, muttering spells under her breath. The blood and dirt slowly disappeared and with her tongue sticking out in concentration, she started to close up the wound.   
James watched, using the opportunity to study her. She really was adorable, with her freckles and little upturned nose and big eyes. She looked worn out, face pinched with worry and lips tight with anger. “We’re not in any danger.” James’ voice broke the silence and Lily stilled, glancing up at him. “I can’t tell you how, or why,” he gave her a small smile, “it’s not just my secret to tell. But I can promise you, we’re completely safe.” Lily snorted and gave a pointed look to the pink line running down his leg. “Mostly safe,” he amended. “But it’s worth it. Remus…he’s such a good bloke. He doesn’t deserve any of it. And we would go visit him after and he’d be so torn up. In so much pain. We had to do something to help him.”

Lily didn’t respond. She stood up, dusted her skirt off and sat down next to him on the couch. She took extra care in arranging her skirt around her legs and finally placed her hands in her lap with a little sigh. She fixed her gaze on James, intense and steady. He swallowed. “What you do. It makes it easier for him?” James nodded. “And you’re really in no danger?” James nodded again. She fell silent and looked away. 

James wondered if he was supposed to say something, platitudes about how he’d do anything for a friend in need – completely true, but utterly banal. He decided it was better to keep quiet and wait for Lily to make a move. He didn’t want her to start screeching again.

“Alright,” she nodded her head once and got to her feet, yawning. “I’m going to bed. You should too, it must be past six by now and you still have class tomorrow.” She shot him a smile and James smiled back tentatively. “First class is Charms though, so if you um…happen to sleep in, you can always borrow my notes.” 

The smile on James’ face widened. “Lily Evans,” he teased, trying to hide his shock, “are you offering to cheat for me?”

Lily flushed. “And the other two,” she hastened to explain, “and this is a one time offer. And if you ever get hurt again, after…well if you do, you come get me ok? Don’t let Peter heal them. He’s good at many things, but healing is not one of them. And – “she hesitated and shook her head and smiled at him again. “I’ll see you tomorrow James.” 

James watched her walk over to the girls’ staircase, flabbergasted. What had just happened? “Lily…” She paused and looked over at him. “Thank you.” 

Her face softened. “You’re welcome James.” She disappeared up the stairs.

Girls! James thought with disgust, they’re so bloody moody.

**iii.**

James found her huddled in a dark corner of the library, thick books spread out around her. She kept on brushing her long red hair out of her eyes and was tapping her quill against the side of her cheek, frowning. James held back a groan. She was stressed out.

“Having trouble Evans?” he asked, trying to sound as casual as you could in this kind of situation, but failing miserably. 

Lily’s head shot up and for a moment her eyes were large with fear. She relaxed when she saw it was him and smiled tightly. “You could say that. This Ancient Runes translation is so complex and I need to reference everything, so you can imagine – “she broke off and her forced smile became genuine when she noticed the glazed look in James’ eyes. “I’m sorry,” she laughed, “I won’t bore you with the details.” 

“Thank Merlin,” James replied, flashing a quick grin. He hesitated and sat down in the chair across from her, relaxing when her eyes crinkled up in a welcoming smile. “You looked like a startled deer before Evans, expecting someone else?” His tone was casual, but Lily knew what he was really asking. Over the past year Voldemort’s sympathizers had become more open about their disdain for Muggleborns and their attacks – physical or verbal - more frequent. 

She brushed her hair away from her face irritably and shrugged. “I wasn’t expecting anyone at all, which is why you startled me.” She smiled at him at again and James grinned back. They sat there, smiling at each other for a few minutes and James’ heart sped up as butterflies erupted in his stomach. 

It wasn’t unusual to find the pair staring at each other, smiling goofily, Lily blushing and James nervous. He wasn’t about to complain – smiling goofily and watching Lily blush was a vast improvement on Lily trying to avoid him and sniffing at him in disdain whenever he spoke. They had been happy to circulate in different social groups’ right up until the end of 5th year, when Lily had suddenly grown into her curves and long legs and – while always pretty – she had become one of the most desirable girls in 5th year, if for the sole reason she was one of the first to develop breasts. James had quickly become infatuated with her and the infatuation culminated in the hideously embarrassing fight by the Lake. 

James cleared his throat. “I have a confession to make,” he began, running his hand through his hair, “and you might not like what I have to say, but just bear with me ok?”

Lily propped her chin in her hand, her goofy smile turning quizzical. “Alright,” she agreed, “though if you’re finally going to admit to sneaking out of the Common Room last night, you needn’t bother.” 

“No, that’s not it.” James cleared his throat again, ignoring Lily’s amused expression. “You remember in 5th year, the first time I asked you out?”

Lily’s expression instantly became wary. “Ye-es,” she answered, frowning, “but I don’t know why you’re bringing that up, it was almost 2 years ago.” 

“Well,” James paused, trying to think of how to word this, “I know it was almost 2 years ago, but I –“he frowned and scratched his head. “Look, I’m just going to come out and say this, and you can take it anyway you want.” Lily nodded. “I wanted to apologise for that – for asking you out in front of everyone, after I’d just hexed Sniv – Snape and after he…you know.” James took a deep breath, staring intently at the shelves behind Lily’s head. “I would never do such a stupid thing now, of course, that I know better, but I really fancied you and I figured that maybe if you agreed to go out with me, it would make you yelling at me a little bit worth it.” He smiled ruefully, suddenly embarrassed. “But you completely rejected me and I was shattered, and – oh Merlin, this is so humiliating.” James muttered, turning bright red. 

Lily was gazing at him, her mouth open, clearly shocked. She gave a little snort and ignored the hurt look James shot her way. “Ever since that day,” she said, “I’ve been waiting for you to apologise to me and you never did. I didn’t mind so much you asked me out, “she admitted with a smile, “but I was very upset that you would try to use a date with me as a bargaining tool. And every time you asked me out afterwards, I thought you were just trying to embarrass me, because you had made it very clear that you weren’t actually interested in going out with me, you just wanted to –“she shrugged, “oh I don’t know, prove that you could have any girl you wanted, or something, but the point is, I was convinced that you were just trying to poke fun at me.” James gaped at her, incredulous. “And then,” she continued “when I finally stop needed you to apologise for that, you do.” 

““I asked you out because I wanted to go out with you”, James said, disgruntled, “not because I was trying to prove some point.” Lily shrugged and smiled, “and I really am sorry for being such a git.”

She looked at him thoughtfully, “So all those times you asked me out, you were serious?”  James nodded. “And all those times I rejected you in the harshest way possible, you were secretly crying on the inside?”

“I wouldn’t say crying on the inside,” James spluttered, glaring at the quick wink she sent his way. “But I wasn’t as blasé about it as I made out to be.” 

“Well…” she looked a little confused now, sitting up straight and folding her arms, “while I do really appreciate you saying that, I don’t understand what bought it on.” She gave him an expectant look. 

James turned a very deep shade of red and he ran his fingers through his hair again. “I was hoping that if you knew I was sorry for bollocksing up the first attempt at asking you out, you might reconsider coming to Hogsmeade with me next weekend.” He gave her a hopeful look, but the tentative smile dropped when he saw the sympathy in her eyes. 

“James…” She started gathering up her books, shoving them into her book bag. “I’m sorry, but no. I just – I can’t ok? It’s not that I have anything against you anymore, you’re really great and I think you’re a wonderful friend, I just…” she glanced at him, flushed and unsure, slinging her bag over her shoulder. “I wish…” she shook her head and hurried away, leaving a dejected James at the table.

**iv**

“You got punched for me.” Wondering. Pause. “You got _punched_ for me!” Anger. 

James groaned. 

“Oh don’t!” her voice was slowly rising, “Don’t act all pathetic in an attempt to garner sympathy from me, I won’t have it.” She was pacing around his bed, arms folded. “What were you _thinking_?”

“I was thinking,” James said through clenched teeth, “that a Slytherin twice your size was about to punch you in the face and kill you.” 

Lily whirled to face him, standing at the end of the hospital bed. She glared at him, red hair frizzy and sticking up haphazardly. “Kill me!” she snorted, “one punch isn’t going to kill me.”

“It put me in the Hospital Wing.” James pointed out, feeling smug. 

“Only because you were daft enough to hit your head on the stone wall behind you.” She retorted, narrowing her eyes at him. 

“Is there something wrong with you, woman?” James snapped, sitting up in his bed. “I took a punch for you and you’re in here yelling at me. Most girls would be grateful, not acting like a bloody shrew.” 

“I didn’t ask you to take a punch for me.” Lily’s hands were clenched at her sides, her face screwed up in anger. “You had no right to.”

“You would have rathered that I step aside and let Yaxley beat the crap out of you?” James said incredulously. Lily hesitated, realizing how stupid that sounded. She nodded anyway. “Merlin. There really is something wrong with you. I knew you were irrational, but bloody hell, this is really taking it to a whole other level Evans. Is it really that hard for you to –“he broke off and moaned, a wave of dizziness washing over him. 

“James!” Lily hurried over to his side, holding her hand up to his forehead. 

James slapped it away and glared at her. “Bugger off, I have a concussion, not a fever.” 

Lily stamped her foot, frustrated. “Now who’s being ungrateful? Lay down will you and stop working yourself up into a state, Madame Pomfrey will be furious if she found out you were acting like this.” 

“Work myself up into a state?” James repeated, slapping her hands away as she tried to push him back down into a laying position, “You’re the one who came in here and started antagonizing me –“

“If you two are quite done.” Sirius interrupted, grinning at the pair. They froze and stared at him, Lily with her hands on James’ shoulder and James’ on her wrists. They had forgotten he had been sitting in the chair next to the bed. Lily quickly took her hands off James’ shoulders and took three precise steps back, glaring at James. He lay back down with a huff and crossed his arms over his chest. 

Lily studied James from her safe distance, making sure he wasn’t looking pale again. She glanced up and caught Sirius’ knowing smirk as he slowly winked at her. Lily blushed and narrowed her eyes at the boy, embarrassed that he had caught her out. She had to get out of there before she did something stupid. Like snog James silly for leaping in front of a punch for her. It was the most romantic things anyone had ever done for her. As the same warm feeling she’d been trying to squash all morning started to appear again, Lily knew she had to leave, fast. 

“Well,” she sniffed, picking up the bag she had thrown on the floor in her haste to get to James, “Now that I know you haven’t suffered any permanent damage from your stupidity,” James made a protesting sound at that, “I’ll be going back to class.” She flounced out of the room, shooting Sirius a dirty look when he sniggered. 

“Mate, I never thought I’d see the day this happened,” Sirius announced as soon as he heard the door close behind Lily, “but you’re in.” 

James gave Sirius a confused look. “What are you on about Padfoot?”

“Evans. She has the hots for you something bad.” 

“You’ve gone mad.” James said flatly. “You saw her just then; she couldn’t wait to lay into me.”

“Nah,” Sirius replied, leaning back in his chair and stretching, “she was dead worried about you. Looked like she was going to cry when your head hit the wall.” He paused. James looked much more interested now. “Besides, she nearly killed Yaxely after he hit you. She’s got some good jinxes up her sleeve. She wouldn’t do that unless she wanted to snog you silly, yeah.” 

A smile was tugging at the corner of James’ lips. “Reckon she’ll admit it?”

“Never.” Sirius answered immediately and they grinned at each other. 

**v**

She was curled up tightly, head resting on her knees. 

He sat down next to her.

“All right Lily?” 

She didn’t answer. He didn’t really expect her too. 

He rested a hand on her back, felt the trembling. 

“My Mum. She died. She had a stroke.”

James didn’t answer. She didn’t really expect him too. 

He stroked her back gently and rubbed her shoulders. 

She cried silent tears that broke his heart as her body shook. 

“You don’t have to stay.” 

“Yes I do.” 

She never really expected him to leave. 

**vi**

She wouldn’t have thought dinner could be so much fun. Lily sat between James and Alice, watching with barely contained giggles as Sirius flicked peas at Remus whenever he wasn’t looking. 

“Sirius!” Remus finally cracked, punching him in the arm. “Bugger off.” 

James snorted into his pumpkin juice, spraying the drink everywhere. “Gross,” Lily exclaimed, trying to wipe off the droplets on her with a napkin. 

“Lily,” Peter laughed, “you’re a witch. Why are you using a napkin?”

Lily blushed and pulled out her wand. “Because you don’t need to use magic for everything.” 

“You’re using it now, aren’t you?” Peter teased. 

“Shut up.” Lily said primly, ignoring Alice’s laughter and James’ smile. “If someone hadn’t snorted like a buffoon before, we wouldn’t be in this situation.” She shot James a pointed glare.

James simply smiled innocently and shoveled roast beef into his mouth.

“Eurgh.” Lily said, unable to hold back a laugh. She saw Sirius move onto flicking carrots at Remus’ head and shook her head. “Why is he doing that?” she asked James, pouring herself another glass of juice. 

James shrugged. “He wants to hear Moony swear. Says he doesn’t swear enough for a normal 17 year old boy and is determined to fix it. Reckons if he annoys him enough, he’ll crack.” 

“Oh.” Lily replied, frowning thoughtfully. With a cheeky grin, she loaded her own spoon with mashed potato. She winked at James, giggled at his incredulous stare and shot the mash potato straight onto Remus’ nose.  

Remus looked at Lily in absolute shock as the small group around her went silent. The mashed potato slid off the boy’s nose and landed on the table with a plop. She wasn’t unable to control herself after that and burst into peals of laughter. 

“Good shot.” Sirius congratulated, shaking a still laughing Lily’s hand. 

“I think I’ve corrupted her.” James said proudly, patting Lily’s head. “I didn’t even need to encourage her.”

Lily rolled her eyes good naturedly and elbowed James in the side. “I’ve definitely been spending too much time around you.” She pretended to frown. “Maybe I should start limiting our time together.” 

James draped his arm around her shoulder and Lily resolutely ignored the warm feeling that spread through her body. He smiled down at her and she smiled back, blushing. “Absolutely not.”

Lily knew she should shrug his arm off her shoulder and tell him to stop touching her like that, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She liked the feeling of the heavy weight around her, of his body warming up one side of her, of being able to smell James. “No,” she agreed softly, looking down. “Perhaps not.” 

**end**

**  
**Lily found James reclining under one of the trees near the Lake, bag under his head, one arm thrown over his eyes. She watched him for a moment, a smile tugging at her mouth. He looked like a little boy all tuckered out from a long day of mischief – which, she thought, probably wasn’t too far from the truth.

“Finished checking me out yet Lily?” James murmured, lips curving into a smile.

She laughed and nudged his side with her foot, watching as he squirmed away, removing his arm to glare at her. “You know I can’t resist your stunning good looks.” She plopped down beside him, adjusting her skirt so it covered her knees. “I didn’t see you in Hogsmeade.” 

James shrugged, readjusting his bag under his head. “Didn’t feel like going.” 

“Ah.” Lily answered, fiddling with the hem of her skirt. They fell into an awkward silence, Lily plucking pieces of grass and throwing them away, James staring at the blue sky. “Why not?” 

James ignored her. “Did you have fun with Thackeray?” His mouth tightened. 

Lily stayed silent, chewing on her lower lip. James looked sideways at her, squinting. She caught his gaze and shrugged helplessly, looking annoyed. “Yes. No. I don’t know!” She huffed and folded her arms, looking out over the lake. James didn’t respond, just turned away and covered his eyes with his arm again. Lily snuck a glance at him and sighed. “No.” She said quietly, plucking at the grass again. “Not really. He wasn’t at all what I expected.” 

James grunted. 

“Grunting isn’t a response you know.” She narrowed her eyes at him and threw a blade of grass at his face. It missed and fluttered to the ground. 

She didn’t have to see his eyes to know he was rolling them at her. “Why not then?”   
She opened her mouth and then subsided back into her tense silence, twiddling her fingers. “I suppose,” she started, then stopped. She nibbled on her lower lip and sighed. “I suppose it was because he wasn’t you.” 

James went very still. “Oh.”  She almost didn’t hear him, and he slowly removed his arm, turning to face her. She wouldn’t meet his gaze, instead finding her shoes very fascinating. “Interesting.” 

“That’s all you have to say?” Lily huffed, narrowing her eyes at him. “Interesting? _Interesting_ , as if I’ve just made a comment on the weather?” She paused when she saw him start to smile, dimples appearing. He looked at her, hazel eyes intense and the sheer joy in that expression made her blush bright red. They gazed at each other, Lily still bright red and uncomfortable, James grinning in triumph. “Did you want to say something?” She asked, suddenly nervous. What if he didn’t like her anymore? But the way he was watching her…that has to mean something, right? What if he still fancied her but didn’t want to date? Oh Merlin, this was too much for one girl to handle. 

James shrugged and clambered to his feet, brushing grass off his back. Lily watched him carefully, nervous. “There’s not a whole lot I want to say, no” he replied with a slow wink and Lily’s blush intensified. He held out his hand to her and she grasped it, letting him pull her to her feet. She was standing close to him, his breath warm on the top of her head, his hand still gently holding hers. Butterflies were erupting in her stomach, her heart started pounding and she tentatively raised her eyes to meet his, nibbling on her lower lip. He was grinning that same goofy smile, slightly disbelieving but entirely happy and she couldn’t help but return his smile, laughing a little. He leaned forward abruptly and Lily sucked in her breath, _ohmygoshhesgoingtokissme_ she thought, eyes fluttering closed and she waited to feel his warm lips on hers. “I knew I’d wear you down eventually.” he whispered. 

 

A/N: I think I finally fixed up the formatting!! yay for me. R&R! 

 


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